Be United. Be Empowered. Be Inspired

Girly Geek Of The Week: Missy Longshore

Meet Missy! She is a Non Profit go getter!! She is her own boss, is self taught, is #involved, 3x Certified, has an excellent blog (see link below),a Girlforce Leader and loves advocating and helping others! #Inspired ❤ This woman rocks!!

Me: How & when did you start working with Salesforce?

Missy: I started working with Salesforce in 2009, when I was the Special Projects Manager at an education reform nonprofit in Oakland, California. I had never managed an IT project before, and I was scared to take on Salesforce. The initial implementation with a large consulting firm had not gone well – the staff was not satisfied, the project was way behind schedule, and the budget was out of control. The first thing I needed to do was fire our consultants. Luckily I also got to attend Dreamforce right away as well as ADM 201 training; that was all I needed to get hooked! Wow! Now that’s jumping in with both feet!

Me: What is your current role working with Salesforce?

Missy: Since 2012, I’ve led my own Salesforce consulting firm, Longshore Consulting. It’s awesome! I train, coach, and collaborate with nonprofits and foundations to get started successfully when they don’t know what they don’t know, to maintain their success in the long run, and to build their internal Salesforce capacity to lower their total cost of ownership. It’s the perfect way for me to contribute to creating as much social change as possible while leveraging my special set of project management, strategic, and technical skills. Amazing and good for you for being your own boss!! An aspiration of mine at some point! 🙂

Me: What is your favorite thing to do in Salesforce and why?

Missy: I love working with others who are newer to Salesforce and seeing them succeed independently. There’s no better feeling then when someone feels empowered to create their own custom fields or modify email templates without my help. #Truth

Me: Are you currently certified? And if so what certifications do you hold?

Missy: I currently have 3 certifications, which I am very proud of! I am a certified system administrator, certified sales cloud consultant, and certified developer. WooHoo!! 🙂

Me: What are some of your aspirations and/or goals when it comes to Salesforce?

Missy: I want to continuously work to make Salesforce as easy to use as possible for nonprofits, and for those accidental system administrators who started out like me, who are mission-driven and passionate but without technical backgrounds. I’m currently working on in-person and online trainings, workshops, workbooks, checklists, and even a free #AdminHour which will start on Thursday April 7th. That is #Awesome!! You go!

Me: Do you have any advice for women working with Salesforce?

Missy: I think Salesforce is a great ecosystem for women. I am a huge advocate for women of color and transgender folks in particular, since there are so many lucrative career opportunities that do not require a computer science background. For me, continually pushing myself to learn new skills, ways of working, and technology has been critical to remain competitive. For example, learning about agile project management and learning to code have really boosted my skills and confidence. Excellent Advice! and I totally agree ❤

Me: What kinds of things are you involved in, and/or do you like to do outside of the Salesforce world?

Missy: My goal is to visit all of the national parks. I have a NPS passport. I find it aligns very well with my Trailhead goals! I love it! ❤

Me: Are you part of a WIT Chapter?

Missy: I’m on the Girlforce Leadership Team – women and transgender folks doing nonprofit Salesforce work should join us in the Power of Us Hub! YAY! I have heard wonderful things about Girlforce! BTW this is a great blog to follow!

It was a pleasure getting to know you Missy and thank you very much for sharing!

A little bit more about Missy:Missy has been working in the nonprofit sector since 1999. With experience in operations, strategic planning, leadership, and management at a variety of mission based organizations, she has enjoyed the continuous ability to contribute to social change. Missy attended Smith College and obtained her MBA in Public and Nonprofit Management from Boston University. She is a certified Salesforce Developer, Sales Cloud Consultant, and Administrator and has been working with nonprofits and foundations on their Salesforce implementations since 2009. She lives in the San Francisco East Bay and enjoys hiking.